Game apparatus.



D. J. BEBON.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 16, 1911.

1,018,956. 7 V Patented Feb. 27, 1912.

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ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH c0., WASHINGTON, D. c.

D. J. BEBON.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 16, 1911.

Patented Feb. 27, 1912.

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DANIEL J. BE'BON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

GAME APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 16, 1911.

Patented Feb. 27, 1912.

Serial No. 644,319.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL J. BEBON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Game Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to game apparatus, my more particular purpose being to provide mechanism controllable partly by skill and partly by chance for playing an indoor game having more or less analogy'to baseball.

More particularly stated, I provide apparatus comprising parts representing a baseball diamond or field, and various bases disposed about the same, the parts being disposed so that balls may be rolled from base to base, and various other provisions being.

made for strikes, balls home runs, base hits and putting out.

My game apparatus further comprises means whereby, under certain conditions, a ball (representing a player) reaches a base, it may have the effect of liberating other balls lodged upon other bases and located more or less distant from the ball which libcrates them.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification in which like characters'of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective showing my game apparatus complete; Fig. 2 is a plan View of the same; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through one of the troughs representing a path from one base to another, a ball representing a player being lodged upon one of the bases; and Fig. 4 is a view somewhat similar to Fig. 3 showing the position of certain movable parts changed. so as to liberate the ball from the base.

A board 5 representing the conventional baseball diamond or field is provided with a rim 6. Located within the corners of the board are posts 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 arranged in groups of three, the posts of the respective groups being of different height, the three posts of any group,however, all being of the same height. Mounted upon the posts are cross rods 18 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 which not only brace the posts, but serve as supports for other parts, as hereinafter described.

Four flat bottom troughs 27, 28, 29, 30 are supported at their ends upon the bars just mentioned, and are slightly inclined, each successive trough being a little higher up from the board than the one before it, as will be understood from Fig. 1. Another trough 31 is disposed obliquely of the board and is also slightly'inclined, its upper end being supported upon standards 32, 33, its lower end resting upon the rods 25, 26. The various troughs are provided with bafiies 34, 35,36, 37, 38, 39 which may conveniently be made by driving tacks into the bottoms of the troughs, these tacks being arranged in rows and spaced more or less arbitrarily from each other, as desired. The battles are for the purpose of changing the course along which the balls roll, as hereinafter described, thereby introducing or at least increasing the'element of chance concerning where the balls may land.

In the upper end of the trough 31 is removably mounted a spider 40 provided with holes 41, 42, 43, 44. This spider is merely a metallic plate bent downwardly at its edges and having the holes 41, 42, 43, 44 punched or stamped out. Mounted within the lower end of the trough 31 is a U-shaped guide 45 and located centrally within this guide. is a hole 46. The lower end of the trough 31 is provided with hooks 47 which fit neatly over the rods 25, 26 for the purpose of supporting the trough.

The trough 28, adjacent to its lower end, is provided with two holes 48, 49. The troughs 29 and 30 are each similarly provided, adjacent to their lowerends, with holes 50, 51, 52, 53. Two arms 54 are 10 cated within the trough 30' and are movable relatively to the same, as hereinafter explained. Extending across from one arm 54 to the other is a bracket 55 which carries a substantially U-shaped guide 56. Disposed centrally of the bracket 55 and spacing the U-shaped guide slightly therefrom is a spacing block 57 The bracket 55 is a bent strip of material forming a compartment 58, this compartment extending across the approximate width of the trough 30, as will be understood from Fig. 2. The arms 54 are mounted upon pivots 59, the latter being supported upon the trough 30. The arms carrying the bracket 55 and guide 56 are adapted to rock slightly upon the pivots 59 as centers.

A tray 60 made preferably of a single sheet of metal is provided with ears 61, and by aid thereof is supported upon the arms 54, being disposed near the highest end thereof. The tray 60 is slightly adjustable relatively to the arms 54, and by adjusting the tray an additional element of chance can be injected into the game, in that the rolling balls in passing through the hole 46, as hereinafter described, vary more or less in their movements. Two arms 62 are mounted upon p1.v-

ots 63 and are disposed within the trough 29. A tray 64 similar to the tray 60 is mounted upon the arms 62. These arms carry a bracket 65 which extends across from one to the other. Mounted upon the bracket is a U-shaped guide 65 which slightly overlaps or eclipses the hole 50, as indicated in Fig. 2. The bracket 65 is further provided with a hole 66, this hole merging intoa compartment 67.

A lever 68 is mounted upon the trough 30 by aid of a pivot pin 69. This lever is provided with a foot 70 which rests upon one edge of the tray 64. The lever 68 carries a boss 71 which extends over and engages the adjacent upper edge of an arm 54. The weight of the boss 71 normally tends to depress the end of the lever 68 upon which this boss is mounted, and in so doing, raises the foot 70. Whenever the arms 54 are rocked upon the pivots 59, however, so that the bracket 55 is raised, the lever 68 is rocked so that the foot 7 O is depressed, and this movement of the foot causes the arms 62 to rock and to raise the guide 65'' out of engagement with the bottom of the trough 29. Another lever 72, similar in all respects to the lever 68, is mounted upon the pivot pin 73 and is provided with a downwardly extending foot 74 which engages the upper edge 74 of a tray 74, this tray being similar to the trays 60 and 64. The lever 72 carries a boss 75 which serves as a counterweight for normally holding down the end upon which it is mounted. This boss 75 also extends over one end of the adjacent arm 62 so that when the arms 62 are rocked upon their pivots 63, the lever 7 2 is rocked and is caused to communicate its motion to the tray 74, and also to two arms 7 6 which support this tray. These two arms are mounted upon pivots 77 and are adapted to rock. A bracket 78 ex tends from one of the arms 76 to the other. This bracket carries a U-shaped guide 7 6 which normally overlaps or partially eclipses the adjacent hole 48 in the bottom of the trough 28. The bracket 78 is provided with a hole 79 (see Fig. 1) which merges into a compartment 80. A cross piece 81, provided with a dividing portion 82, is mounted in the lower end of the trough 27, and divides this trough into two compartments 83, 84.

The game pieces used in connection with the apparatus above described are balls, two of which are shown at 85, 86. Any number of these balls may be employed, each ball representing a player.

The operation of my device is as follows: The parts being arranged and assembled as above described, each player in succession picks up a ball and drops it through some one of the holes 41, 42, 43, 44 in the spider 40. The ball rolls down within the trough 31 and strikes some of the baflies 39, 38. Being thus disturbed more or less in its movement, the ball is,-of course, controlled to some extent by chance. It may land within the U-shaped guide 45, or in either direction outside of this guide. If it lands outside of the guide 45, the performance is counted as a strike. Each player is entitled, as according to baseball usage, to three strikes. If the player succeeds in landing the ball within the guide 45, the ball, of course, passes through the hole 46. It thereupon drops upon the tray 60 and rolls along down the trough 30, encountering the baflies 37 as it passes along. It now has a chance of going through the hole 53,

into the guide 56, or into the space alongside of this guide and'opposite the hole 53. If it goes through the space last mentioned, it passes through the hole 57 (see Fig. 1) in the bracket 56 and lodges in the compartment 58. This performance prevents the ball from rolling any farther, and the player is accordingly marked out. If the ball passes through the hole 53, however, it continues to run. As the four corners of the board represent bases, a run of a ball from one corner to the next successive corner corresponds to advancing from one base to another. Suppose that the ball enters the guide 56. As this guide partially eclipses the hole 52, the ball cannot, for the time being, pass through this hole. It is held up, loosely propped in position, but ready to drop into the hole as soon as the guide 56 is raised up from the bottom of the trough 30. Similarly, there may be a ball lodged within the guide 65 and another within the guide 7 6. These balls represent players standing on bases and ready to run as soon as opportunity is afforded, or as soon as it is necessary for them to run by virtue of some other player advancing to the same-base. Suppose, now, that with three balls partially lodged within the holes 52, 50 and 48, another ball is rolled down the trough 31 and passes into the guide 45 and through the hole 46. This ball dropping upon the tray 60, rocks the arms 54 and raises the bracket 55 and guide 56. This disengages the ball resting partially within the hole 52, and the ball thus disengaged drops through the hole 52 onto the tray 64. The weight of such ball upon this tray rocks the arms 62 and raises the guide 65*. This allows the ball, over the hole 50, to drop through and the weightof this ball dropping upon the tray 74 tilts the arms 76. Similarly, these arms raise the guide 7 6 and allow the ball, heretofore resting partially within the hole 48, to drop through this hole and into the trough 27. Each ball, when liberated and allowed to drop as just described, follows the next successive trough. It consequently follows that a single ball rolling along the trough 81 and dropping through the hole 46 may liberate one, two or three other balls lodging partially within the holes 52, 50 or 48, or all of these balls, and such balls may, or may not, continue to run on until they reach the compartments 82, 84. If desired, one of these compartments may be designated as home (representing the home base), and the other designated as out, meaning that if a player lands a ball in the compartment last mentioned, he represents the player who, in the actual game of baseball, is put out before arriving at the home base.

As above explained, the game is primarily one of chance, but to some extent may be varied by the skill of the players. The factor of chance can be controlled more or less by 'adjusting the position of the spider 40 and those of the various trays 60, 64, 74

Whenever a ball drops through any one of the holes 46, 52, 50, 48, it causes all of the various pairs of armsbelow it to rock on their respective pivots, and, consequently, liberates any or all of the balls which may be lodged partly within any of the respective holes 50, 52, 48. Whenever a ball drops through any one of these holes, it is a matter of chance what will become of the ball as it rolls along. Itmay continue until it reaches the cross piece 81 (see Fig. 1), or it may stop for any one of a number of reasons at any of the other corners of the board.

I do'not limit myself to any particular materials to be used in the construction of the apparatus above described; neither do I limit myself to the precise arrangement of the various parts, as variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A game apparatus comprising a trough provided with a hole, a pair of arms pivotally mounted within said trough, a guide supported by said arms and movable relatively to said hole, said guide being so positioned as to partially eclipse said hole when said arms occupy a predetermined normal position, and chance controlled mechanism for tilting said arms so as to release a rolling body lodged partially within said hole and disposed partially upon said guide.

2. A game apparatus comprising a plurality of troughs each trough being provided with a plurality of holes through which a game piece may be dropped, a guide'partially eclipsing one of said holes, mechanism controllable by the weight of a rolling body Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

